Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759

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    HOW SCHOOL PRINCIPALS USE TWITTER TO SUPPORT LEADERSHIP PRACTICES: A MIXED METHODS DESIGN
    (2018) Lynch, Jennifer Mohler; Croninger, Robert G; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In the past ten years, Internet-based communication mediums have eclipsed print and television media. Digital communications allow for information to be shared rapidly, in real-time, and with little mediation. The pervasive integration of digital platforms has changed the values, norms, and expectations of today’s society. This has profound implications for how school leaders interact with all stakeholders. School leaders are charged with executing three main roles: setting directions, developing organizations, and developing people (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003). Communication serves as a critical element that supports the effective execution of these roles. In a predominantly digital society, leaders may benefit from the integration of digital platforms to create a comprehensive communication profile. Despite a robust body of literature on leadership practices, there is little research on how K-12 school principals are using digital communication platforms to execute leadership roles and responsibilities. This study contributes to the literature by exploring how school leaders are using the popular digital platform Twitter. This research employed a sequential mixed methods design, utilizing both descriptive quantitative data and interview qualitative data to answer the question “who” is tweeting and explore the deeper questions of “why” and “how” school leaders use Twitter. This study moved through six phases with prior phases informing subsequent phases to construct a comprehensive profile of Twitter use and leadership practices. This research demonstrates that school principals primarily use Twitter as a promotional tool to excite and engage an expanded stakeholder base around a common vision. Both informational and promotional tweets served to build relationships, provide information, and satiate the intense informational needs of an expanded stakeholder base, now firmly situated in the digital generation. School leaders used Twitter to project information that serves to support their leadership roles of setting a vision and developing an organization. To a lesser extent, they used Twitter to consume and collect information that supports their leadership role of developing people.
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    INSTRUCTORS' BELIEFS ABOUT THE INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN STARTALK TEACHER PROGRAMS: A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY
    (2014) Li, Jiahang; Turner, Jennifer D; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this collective case study was to explore four instructors' beliefs and actual teaching practice of social media in their STARTALK teacher programs. Based on individual case and cross-case analysis, overall, all participants identified many affordances and challenges regarding the integration of social media and foreign language teacher education. Moreover, a majority of participants' beliefs aligned well with their practices about integrating social media and foreign language teacher education while one participant's beliefs conflicted with her teaching practices. The mixed findings regarding the beliefs and practices of using social media in STARTALK teacher programs suggest that teacher beliefs needs further exploration as a construct. Future research is needed in identifying best practices of various social media in foreign language teacher education and explaining complicated teacher beliefs about the effectiveness of social media in foreign language teaching and teacher education. Regarding implications for practice, foreign language teacher educators may consider more explicit approach and step-by-step guidance when introducing and integrating social media in preparing foreign language teachers. This study is significant for not only filling in the gap in the literature by connecting teacher beliefs, social media, and foreign language teacher education, but also show-casing a great deal of ways for foreign language teacher educators to incorporate social media in their training programs.